Jack Bentley

John Bentley
(Needles)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11½", Weight 200 lb.
• High School Sherwood High School (Sandy Spring)
• Debut September 6, 1913
• Final Game May 20, 1927
• Born March 8, 1895 in Sandy Spring, MD USA
• Died October 24, 1969 in Olney, MD USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"Baltimore's Jack Bentley typifies the minor-league superstar, ruthlessly penalized because he was a local draw. The versatile Bentley was often called the Babe Ruth of the International League. In 1920, playing in 145 games, 22 of them as a pitcher, Bentley batted .371 on 231 hits, 71 of them for extra bases. He led the league in RBI with an extraordinary 161. When he was not pulverizing baseballs, Bentley was mystifying batters, as he went 16 and 3 for a winning percentage of .842. He also led the league in earned-run average with 2.11. Bentley batted .365 over five seasons before he persuaded Jack Dunn to sell him to the New York Giants - as a pitcher. He was already twenty-eight years old." - William Curran, from the book Big Sticks

Jack Bentley was a two-way player who appeared in 138 major league games as a pitcher and 287 total. Oddly enough, his ERA+ is 91 and his Adjusted OPS is also 91.

In 1923 for the New York Giants, Jack hit .427 (in 89 at-bats). In 1924 for the same team, he went 16-5 on the bump. He appeared in both the 1923 and 1924 World Series, winning Game 5 of the 1924 tilt whilst matched up against Hall of Famer Walter Johnson. Bentley was, possibly, the only pitcher ever to make the final out of a World Series (as a batter), doing so in 1923 when he pinch-hit for Rosy Ryan. In 1926 he was the regular first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies and pitched 7 games. Lifetime in the majors, he had a won-loss record of 46-33 with a 4.01 ERA and 8 saves in 714 innings and a batting average of .291 with 7 home runs and 71 RBI.

According to the Baltimore American newspaper on April 3, 1921, during a Baltimore Orioles spring training trip to Richmond, Bentley met up with "war pal" Capt. Pete Dumford. The article, "Captain Bentley Meets Pal of War in Richmond," goes on to explain that both Bentley and Dumford were Captains in Baltimore's 313th Infantry. Dunford was assigned to Company A, while Bentley was assigned to Headquarters Company. Dumford goes on to mention that the last time he had seen Bentley, "[he] was chasing two Germans in a trench." Bentley, the article notes, was serving an assignment to cover the German-occupied areas.

In 1958, he was elected to the International League Hall of Fame. He died in Olney, MD at 74.

Notable Achievements

• AL Saves Leader (1914)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 1 (1924)

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Playoffs	Notes
1929	York White Roses	New York-Penn League	71-66	4th
1930	York White Roses	New York-Penn League	66-73	6th
1931	York White Roses	New York-Penn League	56-51	--	--	Replaced by Frank Uzmann (17-16) on August 16
1932	Elmira Red Wings	New York-Penn League	32-38	--	--	Replaced by Clay Hopper (30-39) on July 11

Related Sites

• Jack Bentley at the SABR Bio Project